Tag: Racing

Spooky Channel, running in Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup for the second time, is an example of money talking.

NBS Stable's gelding, an $80,000 claim in April of 2021, finished second in his third start for his current connections in the KDP Turf Cup, then worth $125,000. As a Kentucky-bred, Spooky Channel will compete for the full $250,000 offered in Sunday's stakes.

Trainer Jason Barkley, who grew up in Evansville and is the son of retired trainer Jeff Barkley, has horses this summer at Ellis Park and Saratoga, with a few at Churchill Downs' Trackside Training Center. He kept Spooky Channel at Ellis with an eye on Kentucky Downs' $1.7 million FanDuel Kentucky Turf Cup, a Grade 2 race on Sept. 9 whose winner will get a free spot in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

“I don't like to ship him around too much,” Barkley said. “We were able to stay home and run here for $250,000 as a stepping stone to Kentucky Downs. And if he, hopefully, were to win that, then on to the Breeders' Cup.”

Spooky Channel comes into Sunday's 1 1/4-mile stakes off a three-month freshening since he was a rallying third in Churchill Downs' $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic, the Grade 1 race before the Kentucky Derby.

Naturally Barkley is a fan of what Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend has become, including serving as fees-paid qualifiers for the corresponding Kentucky Downs stakes.

“The locals, it gives them a shot to be ready for Kentucky Downs without having to ship around,” he said of the Ellis stakes. “It keeps horses in the state. Just like Spooky. He ran in a Grade 1 last time and we're staying here. We could have gone to the Bowling Green at Saratoga for the same $250,000, but why ship for the same money when you could stay home? If this race had been a $100,000, I think we'd have had to change our options. The added money definitely keeps people around.”

Spooky Channel had just given Barkley the first graded-stakes score of his career in Keeneland's Grade 3 Sycamore two races after the Ellis stakes in 2021 when the English Channel gelding suffered a tendon injury. While such soft-tissue injuries often send a horse into retirement or racing at a cheaper level, Spooky Channel has thrived since his return 14 months later this past Dec. 22. He won the Fair Grounds' $100,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial in his first start back, was third in Sam Houston's John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3) then returned to New Orleans to take the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Classic for his 13th career victory in 29 starts. Barkley said the three-month layoff since the Old Forester was planned.

“Win, lose or draw, we were going to give him two or three weeks at the farm and then set him up for the summer,” he said. “He had a long winter, coming off an injury. He shipped to New Orleans, then he shipped over to Houston, back to New Orleans and shipped back up here. He can get a little light, so we just wanted to let him get a few weeks in a paddock and have him ready for a summer-fall campaign.

“I think he's better than before he went out” with the injury, Barkley said. “He's doing really well. His last couple of works have been pretty sharp. Time-wise on him, he's never been a horse that's going to work in a minute. But a mile-and-a-half turf horse doesn't need to work a minute. But he's been finishing up well and his gallop-outs have been pretty strong.”

James Graham has the mount.

The post Spooky Channel ‘Able To Stay Home,’ Use Ellis Park’s Preview Race As Stepping Stone To Kentucky Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Al Husn (9/1) lowered the colors of some high-profile rivals in the feature Qatar Nassau Stakes on Thursday at Goodwood, providing Shadwell jockey Jim Crowley with a second G1 prize in under a week after Hukum's success in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes.

Making her debut at G1 level, Al Husn enjoyed a perfect trip on the heels of the leader Above The Curve (7/1) before working her way to the front and holding off all challengers in the straight to score by half a length. Above The Curve stuck to her task well to hold second, just ahead of Nashwa (11/4), who looked a big danger before her run flattened out.

The 10/11 favorite Blue Rose Cen, a dual Classic winner in France this year, could never land a blow after meeting trouble and finished fourth.

Al Husn has now won seven of her last eight starts for Roger Varian, with today's success following victory in the G3 Hoppings Stakes at Newcastle in June.

Varian said: “Al Husn is a remarkable filly. I think she has won seven of her last eight now. The truth is none of us really knew how good she was, because she is one of those who just beats what is in front of her and is never particularly flashy. She has such an admirable attitude. We thought we would come here and run very well, but I am obviously delighted, and delighted Sheihka Hissa is here. To have a Group One for her and with a homebred filly like this, it's fantastic.

“The Nassau is a fantastic race, steeped in prestige and history. It is one of the magical races for fillies to win. It will be forever in her stud book and hopefully when she's done racing, she can go to the farm and be a great mare for them. It is very special for us – we went very close a couple of years ago in the same colors with Zeyaadah. So it's nice to go one better today.”

On where the filly may go next, he added: “Well let's enjoy today and see how she is tomorrow. She is in the Prix Jean Romanet in two-and-a-half weeks' time in Deauville. She is in the Yorkshire Oaks, if we fancy going up to a mile and a half, although I'm not sure about that. Later in the year, races like the Prix de l'Opera I'm sure will be considered and who knows, perhaps something at Santa Anita for her.”

He added: “All she does is keeps beating what is in front of her. She never seems to beat them by three or four lengths, she just does enough. We were all very impressed with Nashwa at Newmarket, so we thought she would be very tough to beat today. But I guess looking back at Newcastle, the distance is about the same so maybe that form line is as true as it can be.

“Twelve months ago, I don't think I would have said she would be stood here in the winners' enclosure after the Nassau Stakes, but we have always really liked her. She is not the biggest filly, but she is very well made. We trained her mum, Hadaatha, who was third in the Prix de l'Opera, so we always had faith that Hadaatha would breed a very good one.”

Crowley said: “Al Husn was so tough there. You can see how big she is, she is not a big filly, but she is a little terrier who tries and is so tough. She has improved with every run and it's just great to nick a race like that with her.

“She is a very good filly and we were in the right place at the right time. It is the nature of the track – when I saw the French filly [Blue Rose Cen] get that draw, I thought they were going to need a bit of luck, and we had the luck today. I had to commit on her a long way out.

“It was a steady, tactical affair and she was in the right place, but she still had to kick on two out and fend them off, which she did. It was a great performance.

“She beat Nashwa last time – Nashwa probably over-raced in that race at Newcastle, but Nashwa then came out and won at Newmarket.

“Roger's done a fantastic job with Al Husn, and she's just kept on improving all season. Coming here today on the figures, she still had to step up and she did. She might possibly get further, but we have never really thought about it. It is something we can talk about.”

Thady Gosden said of Nashwa: “She has run a very good race. They went a slow pace and it's very difficult to pick up in this ground. She travelled into the race well but you can't quicken on ground like this, and that has sucked the class out of her. She won last time over a mile and showed a brilliant turn of foot in ground that was soft but obviously not as soft and easier to quicken through. Today she has run a very good race but couldn't quite show that brilliance we have seen before.”

Hollie Doyle added: “There was no pace early on but Nashwa relaxed beautifully. They got racing early enough coming down the hill. I was just trying to hold on to her for as long as I could and I went there with a double handful at the two-furlong pole. A furlong and a half out I went to win my race, pushed the button and she quickened. I just think in the final furlong I lacked a bit of stamina. It has happened a few times now, and even today I rode her the opposite way and it confirmed what we might have thought. Take nothing away from the winner, who is very good.”

 

Christopher Head said of beaten favourite Blue Rose Cen: “It was a very tactical race so of course it was a possibility that kind of thing could happen. She ran a nice race, she did her race, and for sure would have been closer in a different position. I still think Blue Rose Cen ran a very nice race and she will get into the rest of the programme at the end of the season.

 

“It's different here, so we need to respect and go into the racing with the fact that, even with a strong possibility of winning, there is still a possibility to fail.

 

On Aurelien Lemaitre having not ridden at Goodwood before: “The Yeguada Centurion team and Leopoldo [Fernandez Pujals – owner] are always interested in working with the young ones for the future because it's important for them to build a team that follows them and we are still working together. Of course, Aurelien was part of the team.

 

“We will have to discuss with Leopoldo and we will come back with a programme. I need to talk to see what the team want to do with her. This was a nice opportunity because we need to exist at that type of race. It hasn't been won by France since the beginning, so it was still a challenge.”

The post ‘None Of Us Really Knew How Good She Was’: Breeders’ Cup May Be On Agenda After Al Husn Defeats Multiple Top Distaffers In Nassau appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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With a name strikingly similar to that of the great Chicago Bears running back Walter “Sweetness” Payton, 3-year-old filly trotter Walner Payton will aim to score a touchdown of her own this Saturday afternoon at The Meadowlands in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks.

The daughter of Walner-Lonely Lady heads into the Oaks off a sharp-looking score in the first of two eliminations a week ago and was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite at a Tuesday afternoon press conference held at Hogan Equine in Cream Ridge, NJ, where Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks post positions were drawn.

A remarkably steady sort who has hit the board in all eight of her 2023 outings, she put up her third win of the season while equaling her lifetime best of 1:51.4.

“I knew she was going into (the elimination) as good as she's ever been,” said trainer Chris Ryder, who's in search of his first Oaks win. “She's always been a little lean, but she started to put on a little weight the last two or three weeks. (Driver) Dexter (Dunn) was thrilled with her (when second on July 22). He said she was really coming good. We finally put a hood on her, eye cups, which we probably should have done before. That helped a lot because before when she's been up front, she's been wandering around. (In the elim) She had a lot more focus. She finished up strong with the ear plugs in. Dexter gave her a heck of a drive.”

Walner Payton drew post one in the field of 10, and will be driven by her regular pilot Dunn, the four-time defending Dan Patch Driver of the Year, whose one win in the Oaks came in 2021 with Bella Bellini.

“I knew (eventual second-place finisher Railee Something) was going to be a threat (in the elim),” said Dunn. “She's been racing really good. But my filly was still going super at the time (on the last turn) and she's pretty quick. She can reel off a pretty good quarter. So, I was still confident enough that she would keep going, and she did.”

Railee Something has lived up to her name during 2023, winning five-of-eight starts while finishing third in the other three. She will depart from post five and is the 7-2 second choice for trainer Ron Burke and driver Yannick Gingras. Gingras will be gunning for a seventh Oaks win while Burke looks for his first.

“She's been very good every start (this year),” said Burke. “We have to get one more little half-length finishing. If we can find a half-length finishing, she can go with those fillies. We'll have a bridle change with her. I think she's just a little bit getting alongside the horse and hanging, so we're probably going to close her (bridle) up to try to get her to surge by.”

The other Oaks elim was taken by 36-1 longshot Heart On Fire for driver Todd McCarthy and trainer Tony Alagna. In the final, she will depart from post two and is listed at 5-1.

“I was just hoping that I could get a trip and sort of sneak through and maybe get a spot in the final,” said McCarthy of the inside trip that led to a walk down victory lane. “But the way the race shook out, it worked really good for us. This filly has been so good, Tony has had her really good. When she can get a trip like that, she never had to leave the pegs, it just suited her perfectly.”

THE FIELD: This is the field for the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks (post time, 3:30 p.m.), with post position, horse, driver, trainer and morning-line odds:

PP – Horse – Driver – Trainer – Morning Line
1 – Walner Payton – Dexter Dunn – Chris Ryder – 3-1
2 – Heart On Fire – Todd McCarthy – Tony Alagna – 5-1
3 – Bond – Ake Svanstedt – Ake Svanstedt – 9-2
4 – Righteous Resolve – James MacDonald – Matt Bax – 8-1
5 – Railee Something – Yannick Gingras – Ron Burke – 7-2
6 – Mambacita – Scott Zeron – Tony Alagna – 20-1
7 – Instagram Model – Andrew McCarthy – Annie Stoebe – 8-1
8 – Kayleigh S – David Miller – Marcus Melander – 20-1
9 – Secret Volo – Brian Sears – Marcus Melander – 6-1
10 – Heaven Hanover – Tim Tetrick – Marcus Melander – 12-1

The post ‘Payton’ Seeks Sweet Hambletonian Oaks Win At Big M appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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